A section of the park was turned into a tiny zoo. Elephant, bear, duck, deer all stood on display. What an accurate depiction! And all so green! That young man—the one from Thanjavur, wearing thick glasses and long white pants, his dense hair neatly combed and pressed down—would frequently consult a heavy leather-bound tome he carried in his hand and shout commands. Right away, the workers who stood at the ready with colossal shears clipped away at the places he pointed to. The young man remained focused on his task, now walking up to the topiary for a closer look, now receding to look at it from a distance, then giving it a direct look from the front, then bending his knee to view it at an angle, squinting at it, and consulting his leather-bound volume again before issuing more commands to the workers bearing giant shears. It required daily meticulous supervision, that green zoo. If he was not careful, the female elephant might grow tusks and turn into a bull, or the deer might put on too much weight, or the duck might spread out its plume and dance like a peacock, or some other such indecorous thing might occur. The plan to craft beauty carefully might fail miserably.

There was no end to the wonders that young man from Thanjavur performed in our town’s fancy new park. Flowers blossomed only in the colors he commanded. He made running creepers fold into tight curls. He made even small plants grow long drooping leaves just as he wanted them to. He had everyone amazed at the way he put creation to utter shame with his science.

In another corner of the new park, the radio was always on full blast. At first, the people who gathered in the evenings for gossip found this noise an intrusion. But in time, they grew used to it, and now the sound became the background score for their gossip sessions. In the evenings, there was not enough room on the grass or on the benches to accommodate the crowds that flowed into the park. Both men and women came to the park. It was very rare to see lovers together, but newlyweds showed up within a week after the wedding. The park was among the few places they were eager to experience in the early weeks of their marriage, since they rightly suspected that they might not get to do these things later.